New Norwegian Film: The Worst Person in the World

The new Norwegian film “The Worst Person in the World” will be the closing chapter of Norwegian film director Joachim Trier’s “Oslo Trilogy,” which includes his feature debut, “Reprise,” and “Oslo, August 31st”.

The title might suggest a political satire of America today, but the film written by Trier and his usual collaborator Eskil Vogt is a film that follows the character of Julie over four years as she “navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.”

Anders Danielsen Lie plays the leading male role.

New Norwegian film – 5 Million Dollar Project
The fiction movie has received funding of NOK 9,075,000 (€937,000) from the Norwegian Film Institute. Paris-based MK2 films has come on board to co-produce and sell internationally Joachim Trier’s newest movie, while more partners are expected to join during the production. The total budget is NOK 47.7 million (€4,925,000).

“After years of wanting to work with Joachim Trier, one of the strongest and most original voices to emerge from Europe, we are honored to be partnering with him and Thomas Robsahm’s new company Oslo Pictures on this bold and resoundingly modern film,” said MK2 director Juliette Schrameck.

Anders Danielsen Lie (left) and Joachim Trier

Ambitious Joachim Trier
Renate Reinsve plays Julie as her firs leading role. The actress has previously appeared in the TV series Almost Adult, and she also had a small role in Oslo, August 31st. Anders Danielsen-Lie, who previously starred in the other two films in Trier’s trilogy, plays the leading male role.

Each of Trier’s films seems to be more ambitious than the last. His other credits include “Louder Than Bombs” with Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne and Isabelle Huppert, which competed in Cannes. His latest film, “Thelma,” played at Toronto and was the Norwegian submission for foreign-language film Oscar in 2017.

Shooting films in Norway
When Trier was asked by a journalist why he had chosen to shoot his films in Norway instead of for instance in the USA, Trier replied: “There is something specific about Norway…. I thought that it was different, but it’s very much the same. America also has a Bible Belt. It also has a tremendous gap between New York and the South, or certain Midwestern parts of culture. It’s in fact quite similar, but it’s a grander, a bigger scope of what we have on a smaller scale in Norway. The journey of coming from rural, as you say, a different type of environment or milieu, into the more secularized or liberal city… that’s an American tale as well, isn’t it?”

He concluded: “But I think there’s something specific about the Norwegians, our fairytale tradition, of our ambivalent relationship to nature. Norway is all about getting home from work at four o’clock and having a lot of free time to spend with nature and your family. That’s like if you are a healthy, functioning family — you are out skiing every Sunday.”

Feature image (on top): Joachim Trier

New Norwegian Film: The Worst Person in the World, written by Tor Kjolberg